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March 5, 1929. o. M. BA-BCOCK CONTAINER l IlWllxll 5 Sheets-Sheet l l l l l l Filed Jan. 18, 1924 l --i- I a u. 1; 2 a T Patented `Maro 5,' 1929.

y.UNITE erstes.

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OLIVER M. BABCCK, OF EVANSTON, ILLNOIS.

CONTAINER.

Application filed January 18, 1953 g capable of use as a shipping container, box,

crate or the like for contained packages, cans and similar articles; `Which Will be of unusual light Weight combined with increased strength; Which. Will be commercially practical for' the purposes mentioned, as Well as for other uses hereinafter appearing; Which comprises side Walls having Wall Y members, preferably of thin sheet material,

such as Wood,-1ibre board and other like and similar materials, and reinforcing elements i adhering or beingfjoined thereto, throughout a substantial portionv of their surfaces of contact With the Wall members, such joining, in a specific form of the invention, being Y Y by Way of gluing, Whereby the stretchingor shrinking, and hence cracking or splitting of the members, as Well as Warping and other.

deformations, are prevented, this being of particularadvantage Where the Wall members are of thin Wood, such as rotary cut lumber; Which has the reinforcing elements so arranged and spaced as to give the-container. maximum vstrength for minimum Weight; Which has the reinforcing elements so located, preferably inside of the container, whereby the outer faces of the container are' left smooth and Without any project-ions, thus avoiding the heretofore catching of projections of a'container upon another With the result of breaking the container open and attendant damage to or loss of the goods and thel like, also avoiding injury to those handling the containers, also the facilitating of even piling and 'packing of containers in a car, storage space, or the like, and, further providing convenient and unobstructivc surfaces for the appearance of printed and advertising matter, as Well as brand titles of the goods upon'the container; Which has the reinforcing elements or strips so locatedV that they also act as spacing or packing guides as Well as supportingV members for the goods packages to the end that the packages are compactly held in place, each strip being located -Where the adjacent boundaries of the packages meet, `as for example, the strips on the bottom Wall lie under the adjacent edges of adjacent packages, the strips on the side Walls overlap the top and loWerside edges of adjacent packages, and, the

Serial No. 686,957.

strips onthe top Wall rest upon the adjacent Y top edges .of adjacent packages, this arrangement thus providing for supporting or holding the packages in their proper positions and in compact space, and also providing for air spaces between the packages and Y the inner face of the outer Wall member, whereby air circulation Within the container and around the packages is permitted to the end that When the goods have been moved from a colder to a Warmer atmosphere and humidity has condensed upon the surfaces of the packages, the circulation of air in the container may evaporate and carry olf the moisture rather than permitting it to remain andreventually corrod'e or otherwise damage the packages, or possibly the container itself; Which has the strips also so arranged that the packages Will be held spaced away and at a distance from the Wall members so that any bloW or impact upon the Wall members from any external object, or even the piercing of such Wall members thereby, as by a hook,` Will not be transmitted or felt by the packages oWing to the spaces between vthe Wall lmembers andthe packages providhas the strips of one Wall so arranged and located With respect to the strips of the adjacent Wall that fastening members, such as nails, staples, and other like andf similar lfastening devices, With or Without corner strips, or the like, may be driven Vboth through the Wall member and the attached strips of one Wallinto the strips of the adjacent Wall, Without any splitting or cracl ing of the Wall members; which have, in one form of the invention, the strips of one or more Walls such as the side Wall, provided With notches for receiving the strips of the adjacent Wall, thus increasing the rigidity and strength of the container as a Whole, the Walls being connected together With the :samefeffect as if they Were clove-tailed together; Which has, in an embodiment of the invention, the-strips of either or both top or bottom Walls resting on or against the edges of the' side Walls so as to provide air spaces or passages between said side Walls or the top or bottom Walls; Which has end Walls With means,rsuch as notches, in thev Vedges of the end Wall pieces, if the latter be solid, or in cleats attached to the end Wall members, ii the latter be thin sheet material, for receiving or securing therein of the reintorcing elements of the side walls,` or, more specifically speaking, the ends oi' the strips of the side walls are mortised and tenoned to the edges et the end walls, where-V by the container has greater rigidity and strength; which so constructed that the cover may be .readily removed without injuring the cover or the remainder oi. the container, and that the container may be used as a delivery container or receptacle in lieu of baskets, boxes, and the like lieretofore used, t-lie container of the present invention being as light in weight as av basket and yet as strong as a box made of much heavier material; and, which has such other and further objects, 'advantages and capabilities as may later appear and are inherently possessed by the invention.

In the drawings, 'llustrating certain eni- `bodiments oi the invention, Fig. l is a perspective View of a container, with the cover in place; Figs. 2 and 2n are similar views with the cover removed and showing the interior of the container partly packed kwith goods packages and showing the mode of packing; Fig. 3 is a dissected perspective detailed view of the container; Fig. 4 Iis a perspective View oiA the solid end wall which may be used in lieu of the end wall shown in Fig. 3;l Fig. 5 is a top plan view of an open container fully packed with cylindrical type of goods packages; Fig. Ye is a side view of the container with the cover in place; F iff. 7; is an end view ,of the same; Fig. 8 is a horizontal sectional view of the Vcontainer with packages in place; Fig. 9 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same; Fig. 10 is a vertical transverse sec-- tional view of the` same; Fig. 1l is a top plan View of a modification and showing a use of rectangular type of packages; Fig.v12 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the same; Fig. 13 is a fragmentary perspective view of a torni showing air spacingbetween atop (or bottom) wall and a side wall; and, lais a fragmentary seetional view of the same. Y

Referring now more particularly to the forms shown in l to 10 inclusive, the container is shown as having` top and bottom v-walls 1, side walls 2 and end walls All walls -are made witii each a thin sheet et' material to which is secured reinforcing members or strips. In the case of the top wall, shown more lparticularly in Fig. 2a, the top is shown as comprising Va ln sheet of material i to which is secured, as by gluing, a plurality of spaced reinforcing Vmember i and the strips 5 grain of the strips transverse ot the grain.. of the wall member, but this is not absoconnected to the side walls'by interlocking Joints, each side wall is provided with` a number otnotches 8, these notches being cut through both the side wall members 6 and the upperl and lower reinforcing elements 7. It will thus be noted that when the top cover l is in place vwith the ends of the strips 5 tittinginto the notches 8, the* top and bottom walls will bel connected to the side walls with a lock jointconnection. It

will also be noted that when theA top and..

bottom wallsare secured to, as by nails'or staples, the side walls, the securing elements may be driven through both the thin wall 9 in Fig. lV ot the drawings. Ordinarily when nails are driven .through thin wood material the wood is apt to split. vWhen' the reinforcing strips 'are'glued, as in this invention, to the wood, and the securing elements pass through both the wood and reinforcing stri as, Athe latter arevents the wood from splitting. It is to `be understood, however, that lthey thin wall-members may not be made oi wood, but may be of any other kind of thin material suitable for making containers of this kind. The end walls are preferably composed of each a thin sheet of material 1]., to which is se'- cured, at the boundaries of the sheet, reinforcing cleats l2 and 13,"thc lcleats 12being preterablytlie vertical cleats-and the cleats 13 being preferably the horizontal cleats. The vertical and horizontal cleats are mortised and tenoned at respective ends,

12 ai'e provided with. notchesl/l and 1.5 for'r the reception and securing thereto ot the enos 'of the horizontal reinforcing elements 7 of the side walls. In order that the ends ot the reinforcing elements VIor strips .7 may be propeilyreceived in the notchesV 14 Vand 15, the end wall member 1l is also `provided with corresponding notches 1G and`l7, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 oli the drawings.

In the eventtliat an end walll without reinforcing cleats be' used in lien et' a wall of a thin sheet material with reinforcing cleats, suoli end wall may be made of relatively thick material and of the'iiorin shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

One of the important 'feat-ureso'f'the inas indicated at vention isthat the packages may be compactly packed inside of the container and yet be spaced away from the walls ofV the containerso as to provide for-'air spaces both for aircirculation and for the protection of the Vgoods Vwhen the container is handled with instruments such as hooksv or when one container falls upon the other andhas a -te'ndency toY bend or.y impart a shock to the vThe reinforcing members, besides being for the purpose of giving strength to the vcontainer, alsov serve the purpose of protectingthe packages and also for providing air spaces between the packages and the outside walls ofthe container. f 1

Inaddition tothe above 'and in the preferredV form, vthe* reinforcing members are so spaced onthe bottom wall as well as on the .upper wall and along the sides of the side wallsy of thev container, so that the ad-V y jacent edges of the packages will overlap the lreinforcing strips so that the latter will ,act as supportingV means f for the packages at theiredges or boundaries. As Lfor example,jeach bottom strip will lie underthe adjacent edges ofl two rows of packages, as clearly shown in Fig. 5l of thedrawings. It will be.. noted .that the packages meet substantially along acenterline of each supportingr strip 5. On the'side walls, the upper and lower supporting astrips will bear against the upper edge of the upper row of packages .and the lower edge of the lower rowfof packages respectively. The center strip 7 will overlap the lower edges and the upper edges of the top and lower rows of packages respectively. In this way it is imp'ossiblefor the packages to be placed in the container exceptin an upright and cor- 'rect position. The packages must be placedv in compact relation or it would be impossible to place the designated number of packages within the container without this arrangement being insured. above as the preferred forni-for this con# struction I do not wish'to bevlimited to this identical arrangement, as otherl 4forms of construction might be used withoutY departing from the spirit of my invention.

In the event that it be desired to increase the ventilationr of the container, the side walls may bemade without the notches shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing, buty the strips 5 of the top and bottom walls may While I consider Athe *rest upon the uppervand lower edges of the side walls 2, as clearly shown in Figs. 13 and Hof thedrawings, so as to provide air spaces'orfpassages 18 between the top and bottom walls' and the edges ofthe side walls.

In order to' economize inthe time ofiproducing as wellas cost of materials, the end wall members 11,1may be made of slightly less length so as to bearagainst the sides of the reinforcing strips 7 without forming the notches 16 and 17, and hence the intervening tongues 19 and 20 therebetween., as shown/in Fig. 3. See for example the endwall'memb'ers 11 ofFigS. 8, 9 and 10.

In the structures above referred to, the 'side Awalls are described with the reinforcing members 7 as disposed llongitudinally of the side walls. If desired,the reinforcing members may be made in'vertical disposition such as that shown in Figs. 11 and 12 ofthe drawings. Inasmuch as the vertical reinforcing members 'E21v might be tooV narrow to receive the fastening meansY driven downwardly through the cover or upwardly through the bottom, as lshown in Fig. 1 the top and bottom walls may be suitably fastened to the side walls by the use of flexible binding material 22bent about the corner of'th'eboX, -sothat .a staple, nail or other like and similar-fastening maybe driven through one end ofthe vmaterial 22 and through the top and bottom wall members and the reinforcing strips such as shown at'23, in Fig. 11 ofthe drawings, and a fastener'Qd .similarly driven through the other end ofl the material and the side wall of the container, as shown in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings.

While I have shown and described my confrom the spirit of my invention.

The walls of the container may be 'made in large lots according to size and when it is desired to make the container, the walls may be selected Vand, brought together conveniently to form the container. rIhis makes the production of `containers eco nomical. y

While I have herein described and upon the drawings shown a few embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular details, arrangement of part-s and construction Vdescribed and shown, but that other details, arrangements of parts and constructions are `comprehended by the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Having thus described my invention, I claim:

v1. A shipping container for packagessuch as cans or cartons, comprising walls having llO strips rigidly secured-to the Wall members and so positioned relatively toeaoh other as to strengthen the Wall member, support all of the cans or cartons at their meeting edges on a plurality of the container Walls, so that the cans or cartons willv be compactly and securely disposed in said container, and provide air spaces bet-Ween the cans or cartons and the inner `faces of the Wall members. E d c 2. A shipping container for packages such as cans or cartons, comprising Walls having thin Wall members and a plurality of'narrow reinforcing elements rigidly secured to said Wall members and so spaced With rela* tion to' each other' and positioned with respect to the adjacent edges oi the'cans or cartons as to support the cans or cartons at said edges on a plurality of said Walls when said cans or cartons are packed in the container for supporting the cans or cartons rigidly and compactly in the container.

3. A container for packages suoli as cans or cartons, comprising Walls having thin Wall members and reinforcing strips glued to the Wall members, the strips of adjacent Walls meeting each other in overlapping kmanner so that securing elements may pass through one of the reinforcing strips and i its Wall member and into the adjacent strip as cans cartons and the like com risin a plurality of Walls having thin Wall members "normally easily split by fastening elements such as'nails, vand the like, and relatively `narrow reinforcing strips also normally easily split by such fastening elements, said strips being glued to the wall members, the marginal strip of one Wall having notches to receive the adjacent ends of strips of an i7 adjacent Wall to permit lthe securing of one Wall to the other by fastening means'without substantial splitting of the material of the Walls vor strips, the strips being so positioned relatively to Veach other as. to

strengthen the Wall member and support the cans, cartons andthe like rigidly anc compactly in the container. Y

5. A` shipping containerffor packages,

such as cans, cartons, or the like, comprising 6. A 'container for packages comprising.

Walls having thin wall members, and reinforcing strips secured tothe wall members, the strips of adjacent Walls meeting each other in overlapping manner so that securing elements may pass through one of the ireinforcingstrips and its v'vall'meinber and into the adjacent stripwithout substantially splittingthe material of *thewall or strips,

the strips being so positioned relatively to` each other as to strengthen theiwall member, i

support the packages and provide air spaces between theV packages and the inner face of. one or more of the wall members;y l i In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification.V

oLIvER M. BABCOGK. 

